The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It was easy for residents to get into the Christmas spirit this year after admiring the bevy of colourful displays adding holiday cheer to many yards. On Christmas eve, three of those festive displays were singled out in the Light Up in the Spirit of Christmas Contest, sponsored by the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce and Manitoba Hydro. "It was really hard to judge because there were so many great displays this year," said contest chairperson Maureen Kozar. Judges from the Chamber, as well as seniors who took part in a Christmas bus tour, selected the winners from about 25 entries. The winner of the Best Display Award was the Naylor family of 164 Centre Street, whose display features a colourful medley of Christmas characters. It features polar bears, elves, Santa Claus and his reindeer readying for lift-off, and ornery Foghorn Leghorn pulling a sleighful of his Looney Tunes pals. Each piece is lit up for nighttime viewing. "It's nice to win because a lot of effort was put into the display," commented Morley Naylor, who hand-crafted nearly the entire display. Naylor said the display was a labour of love and commended all residents who decorated their yards. He also applauded the Chamber and Manitoba Hydro for sponsoring the contest. See 'Spirit' P.# Con't from P.# "They should be complimented for encouraging people to light up in the spirit of Christmas," said Naylor, who also won in the Best Display category in 2001. "It seems to improve the community spirit over the Christmas season." Winning in the Best Ice Sculpture category was the Wall family of 110 Wallace Avenue, who have won several times before. Their display includes an igloo, Eskimos, an aboriginal statue called an Inuksuk, and Santa Claus being pulled by a team of sled dogs. Each piece was carved out of ice retrieved from a bay near the family's cabin at Bakers Narrows. Three generations of the Wall family spent the better part of two weekends piecing together the display. "I heard more comments from people before we put it out. They were concerned that we weren't going to do an ice sculpture again this year," smiled Francis Wall. The winner in the Most Lights category was the Mackie family of 83 Bellevue Avenue. Visible from blocks away, the Mackie's radiant display, which features hundreds of lights, won in the lights category for the third year in a row. Virtually the entire front portion of the Mackie residence is lit up. Included in the display are a set of Santa legs protruding from the chimney and colourful poinsettias. High up on a ham radio tower in their back yard is a gleaming angel. The Mackie display received nationwide attention last holiday season when a photograph of it was featured on CTV's Canada AM. Each winning family received a plaque and an indoor grill.
